beings they are!

Just imagine, in a train, one of them, a gentleman who looked well as I
thought, at first sight, thanks to his tailor, was dainty enough to take
off his boots in order to put on a pair of old shoes! Another, an old
man, who was probably some wealthy upstart (these are the most
ill-bred), while sitting opposite to me, had the delicacy to place his
two feet on the seat quite close to me. This is a positive fact.

At the watering-places, there is an unrestrained outpouring of
unmannerliness. I must here make one admission--that my indignation is
perhaps due to the fact that I am not accustomed to associate as a rule
with the sort of people one comes across here, for I should be less
shocked by their manners if I had the opportunity of observing them
oftener. In the inquiry-office of the hotel I was nearly thrown down by
a young man, who snatched the key over my head. Another knocked against
me so violently without begging my pardon or lifting his hat, coming
away from a ball at the Casino, that he gave me a pain in the chest. It
is the same way with all of them. Watch them addressing ladies on the
terrace: they scarcely ever bow. They merely raise their hands to their
headgear. But indeed, as they are all more or less bald, it is the best
plan.

But what exasperates and disgusts me especially is the liberty they take
of talking publicly, without any precaution whatsoever, about the most
revolting adventures. When two men are together, they relate to each
other, in the broadest language and with the most abominable comments,
really horrible stories, without caring in the slightest degree whether
a woman's ear is within reach of their voices. Yesterday, on the beach,
I was forced to go away from the place where I sat in order not to be